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Blog Entries about "car repair"
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Our crystal ball
An important feature of our reports – we are launching three new reports this year - is the forecast section where we look into our crystal ball and project future market trends. In the past, this has proved relatively easy and it was just a matter of plugging key data into a computer model. But the current situation has us scratching our heads.
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Franchised workshop retention - going the wrong way
With Trend Tracker’s consumer data about car servicing now available up to the end of September 2011, the full impact of the ageing car parc on franchised workshop retention on servicing, maintenance and repair (SMR) is emerging.
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MOT test regime change
When analysing the car servicing and repair market drivers, the ‘usual suspects’ include: car parc size and age profile; average car mileages; build quality trends; service intervals and content; new car warranties; labour rates …. with political and legislative factors barely a consideration. However, that could be about to change with the government’s review of the MOT test regime.
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Losing your grip on servicing, maintenance and repair
This month we launched the 2011 edition of the Castrol Professional Car Service and Repair Trend Tracker. It has been published in various forms since 1995 based on an array of primary research including a monthly consumer survey of 1,000 motorists.
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SMR market down, petrol costs up less than you might think
A reflection on topical news was prompted by the work under way to complete the 2011 edition of the Car Service and Repair Trend Tracker report, of which more anon.
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Forecasting the Future 2009-2015
Essentially the Car Service and Repair Trend Tracker Update 2010 combines three longstanding research reports into one. First, and perhaps best known, is the Service Trend Tracker. Published since 1995, this report is based on extensive consumer surveys. Every month, 1,000 motorists are asked about where they last had their car serviced. The result is ‘servicing retention’ by make of car and provider of servicing – dealers, independents and DIY – a measure we have always found to mirror, very closely, the industry standard ‘service retention’ that includes all types of mechanical work including routine servicing.
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Facts and figures - DfT analysis of MOT Testing
Two invaluable sources of facts and figures for our research reports come from the Department for Transport (DfT) – the snappily-named Transport Statistics Great Britain and Transport Trends. Hardly the most thrilling reads, but crucial to understanding what’s happening in the car market and why.
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More power to your elbow
According to ASE (incorporating Trevor Jones), the average overall labour efficiency of dealers' service departments fell from 83% in 2008 to 80% in 2009. Our own data record a similar fall and you have to go back more than a decade to find service labour efficiencies regularly exceeding 100%. Bodyshops, too, have seen overall labour efficiencies declining over time.
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DIY job card analysis
Analysing job cards is an essential research tool for our reports on the market for servicing and repairs. It is the simplest way of deriving the average values of jobs and revealing the strengths and weaknesses of the two principal market suppliers - franchised and independent. The method, albeit arduous and boring, is relatively straightforward and it's the kind of research any franchised workshop or independent garage can do for themselves.
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Nineteenth Motor Trader Industry Awards 2009
Trend Tracker director, Chris Oakham, was amongst 830 people at the Motor Trader Industry Awards 2009 held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London yesterday evening, 8 July. The 19th Motor Trader Industry Awards celebrated the achievements of companies and individuals challenging the worst recession in the UK retail motor industry since the early 90s - and succeeding. Trend Tracker would like to add their congratulations to the winners of the 18 categories:
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New data on the German aftermarket from Trend Tracker partner
Later this autumn Trend Tracker expects to be able to offer UK customers an unrivalled new report on the European aftermarket, published by our German colleagues at Wolk & Partner following a very extensive research programme. As soon as we have more information, we'll let you know full details.
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Pre-publication offer on The Castrol Professional Car Service & Repair Trend Tracker 2008
The latest addition on our Reports page offers advance information on The Castrol Professional Car Service & Repair Trend Tracker 2008 report. Due for publication in October, this report can now be ordered at an 'earlybird' saving of £225 off the published price of £1,250 plus VAT. While we're grateful for Castrol's sponsorship which continues a long association with Trend Tracker, this latest report represents a major development of an established series. To see why we feel justified in believing this report will be THE definitive UK automotive aftersales market study, go to the Reports page on this site
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Tips on car paint care
